Today In History with The Retrospectors

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown dealt his party’s reelection campaign a massive blow on 28th April 2010, when during a meet-and-greet in the marginal constituency of Rochdale, he was caught on microphone calling one of his own supporters, Gillian Duffy, a bigot. Duffy had engaged the PM in a long conversation about many things, including local concerns about the influx of migrants to the area and the strain that the increased population was having on the local economy. After he finished speaking with her, Brown was ushered into his car where a microphone picked up his now immortal quote: “That was a disaster... should never have put me with that woman. She was just a sort of bigoted woman who said she used to be Labour.” In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why Brown probably wasn’t going to win the 2010 election anyway; speculate on why a relatively harmless exchange got under the PM’s skin; and recall another spectacularly cringeworthy moment when Brown was unable to name any songs by his favourite band… Further Reading: • ‘Bigotgate’ 10 years on: The full exchange between Gordon Brown and Gillian Duffy’ (The Independent, 2020): https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/bigotgate-gordon-brown-anniversary-gillian-duffy-transcript-full-read-1957274.html • ‘Gordon Brown still hasn’t learned his lesson from Bigotgate’ (The Spectator, 2017): https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/gordon-brown-still-hasn-t-learned-his-lesson-from-bigotgate/ • ‘Gordon Brown calls Labour supporter a "bigoted woman"’ (Sky News, 2010): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEReCN9gO14 #2010s #UK #politics We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rerun. King Henri III of France had a favourite group of young courtiers – his ‘mignons’ (or ‘cuties’, ‘sweeties’, or ‘‘darlings’) – known for dressing in an effeminate and eye-catching style. On 27th April, 1578, they engaged in a bloody duel with a rival gang in a battle that came to be known as ‘The Duel of the Mignons’. Was it a ‘beautiful’ battle, a classical allusion to Roman combat, as some scribes argued? Or, as the King himself concluded, a pointless – and rather farcical – loss of life? In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore Henri’s ‘mummy’s boy’ reputation; reveal how many Frenchmen slaughtered each other in this fashion during the five bloody decades from 1575; and explain why, when turning up at a sunrise duel, it’s always best to remember your dagger… Further Reading: • ‘King Henri III and His Mignons’ (The Gay & Lesbian Review, 2020): https://glreview.org/article/king-henri-iii-and-his-mignons/ • ‘On this day in history: Duel of the Mignons, 1578’ (The Modern Historian, 2012): http://modernhistorian.blogspot.com/2012/04/on-this-day-in-history-duel-of-mignons.html • ‘The King’s darlings – The Mignons’ (Whitehall Moll History Clips): https://youtu.be/EBfrDLUkmEY ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On 26th April 1859 Congressman Daniel Sickles’ claimed the dubious honour of becoming the first person in US history to successfully escape a murder charge using the insanity defence, even though pretty much nobody thought he was insane. Sickles freely admitted that he had shot and killed US District Attorney Philip Barton Key near Lafayette Park in Washington D.C. following his wife’s confession the previous day of her protracted affair with Key. But as it turned out, Sickles’ enormous popularity proved a great asset in court, and the jury needed only 70 minutes to deliberate before returning their verdict that Sickles was not guilty on the grounds of temporary insanity. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why Sickles’ crack team of lawyers brought up Shakespeare's Othello in court; marvel at how an enterprising theatre managed to stage a play depicting Sickles’ trial just a week after the case finished; and discuss why every Civil War general except Sickles was commemorated with a statue at Gettysburg… Further Reading: • ‘Temporarily insane’: A congressman, a sensational killing and a new legal defense’ (The Washington Post, 2018): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/03/02/temporarily-insane-a-congressman-a-sensational-killing-and-a-new-legal-defense/ • ‘How Congressman Daniel Sickles Admitted To Killing His Wife’s Lover And Got Away With It’ (All That’s Interesting, 2020): https://allthatsinteresting.com/dan-sickles • ‘Daniel Sickles' Temporary Insanity’ (The History Guy, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVQkpTxGtwA #1800s #US #Crime Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The German poet and journalist Heinrich Heine coined the term “Lisztomania” on 25th April 1844 to describe the phenomenon of frenzied fandom in Europe where women would physically assault Franz Liszt by tearing his clothes, fighting over broken piano strings and locks of his shoulder-length hair. Heine said there was something about Liszt’s performances that “raised the mood of audiences to a level of mystical ecstasy” – which seemed to be a result of the combination of his good looks, his charisma and his stage presence. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Liszt created an almost parasocial relationship with his fan base; investigate why critics are still reproving of expressive concert pianists to this day; and discuss whether the Heine was trying to extort money from performers like Liszt in exchange for better reviews… Further Reading: • ‘The Virtuoso Liszt’ (Cambridge University Press, 2002): The Virtuoso Liszt - Google Books: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Virtuoso_Liszt/koSQAjlxeOIC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=lisztomania&pg=PA203&printsec=frontcover • ‘Forget the Beatles – Liszt was music's first “superstar”’ (BBC Culture, 2016): https://shorturl.at/eipIP • ‘Lisztomania: the 19th-century pop phenomenon that made Beatlemania look tame’ (The Telegraph, 2019): https://shorturl.at/lwNOP • ‘Before Beatlemania, There Was Lisztomania’ (Great Big Story, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3sjCA8OPobw Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On 24th April 1644, the Chongzhen Emperor walked to Meishan, a small hill in present-day Jingshan Park and hanged himself on a tree, bringing a sudden end to the Ming dynasty. The writing had been on the wall for him for some time. By 1640, the unfortunate emperor faced multiple pandemics, an invasion, two internal rebellions, persistent drought, widespread famine, and an economic collapse. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the fifth son of a low ranking concubine ultimately became emperor; reveal wythe Chongzhen Emperor used to sleep clutching a sword at night; and reveal why in medieval China, the gods could grant a monarch a mandate to rule, but they could also take it away if they felt like it… Further Reading: • ‘A death on Coal Hill’ (The China Project, 2022): https://thechinaproject.com/2022/04/20/a-death-on-coal-hill/ • ‘The Fall of the Ming Dynasty in China in 1644’ (Thought Co., 2018): https://www.thoughtco.com/the-fall-of-the-ming-dynasty-3956385 • ‘Why did Ming explode into chaos? (Animated History)’ (Laith - The Social Streamers, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTBQJFOA-Tk CONTENT WARNING: suicide, mass suicide #1400s #China Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Germany’s most famous fighter pilot, Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (aka ‘The Red Baron’) was shot down near the Somme River on the Western Front, on 21st April 1918. He had been credited with an incredible 80 air combat victories during World War I. Originally a cavalryman, Richthofen transferred to the Imperial Air Service and downed 15 enemy planes by the end of 1916. He then headed up his own regiment, using a Fokker triplane painted entirely red; his unit becoming known as the ‘Flying Circus’ because of their brightly-coloured planes. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why even the Allies liked Richthofen; reveal why the Baron stopped printing up souvenir silverware for each of his kills; and consider the fate of the Broadway musical inspired by his heroism… Further Reading: • ‘History of Government: They seek him here… the life and death of the Red Baron’ (UK Government blog, 2018): https://history.blog.gov.uk/2018/04/20/they-seek-him-here-the-life-and-death-of-the-red-baron/ • ‘Ace for the Ages: World War I Fighter Pilot Manfred von Richthofen’ (HistoryNet, 2006): https://www.historynet.com/red-baron-world-war-i-ace-fighter-pilot-manfred-von-richthofen/?f • ‘The Red Baron & The Flying Circus in full HD at 1080p’ (Historical Aviation Film Unit, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4lDB7lXFOg #Germany #War #1910s We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No European had returned alive from Timbuktu until French adventurer René Caillie, who arrived in the ‘City of Gold’ on 20th April, 1828 after an arduous year-long journey. He was fêted by the Société de Géographie in Paris, who awarded him 10,000 francs in recognition of his daring voyage - and his place in the history books was assured. But Caillie was disappointed by what he had found. “The city presented, at first view, nothing but a mass of ill-looking houses, built of earth,” he wrote. “Nothing was to be seen in all directions but immense plains of quicksand of a yellowish white colour ... all nature wore a dreary aspect." In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why a myth had grown up around the Malian city; reveal how Caillie got away with pretending to be Muslim; and dig up the Société’s impressively exhaustive list of evidence required to prove he had been there… Further Reading: • Who, What, Why: Why do we know Timbuktu?’ (BBC News, 2012): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17583772 • ‘Foreign Policy: Timbuktu, Lost City’ (NPR, 2012): https://www.npr.org/2012/07/11/156602241/foreign-policy-timbuktu-lost-city • ‘Timbuktu’ (UNESCO, 2015): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4V-QAzKQ3A ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Thirty million viewers watched Hollywood star Grace Kelly marry Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, on April 19th, 1956. The Royal wedding, at Saint Nicholas Cathedral, Monte Carlo, was filmed by MGM as a condition of releasing Kelly from her studio contract. The couple had met after being put together for a magazine photoshoot at the Cannes Film Festival and were engaged within a few weeks of courting - despite the fact Kelly was already engaged to somebody else. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly unpick Kelly’s iconic gown, made of 274m of lace and 91m of silk; reveal why she had been forced to have a medical examination before the big day; and consider the cocktail menu that would have had the wedding guests feeling especially woozy… Further Reading: • ‘Grace Kelly’s Forever Look’ (Vanity Fair, 2010): https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2010/05/grace-kelly-201005 • ‘Why Grace Kelly, Hollywood icon, had to pay to become a princess’ (NY Post, 2021): https://nypost.com/2021/04/08/why-grace-kelly-hollywood-icon-had-to-pay-to-become-a-princess/ • ‘Grace Kelly Marries Prince Rainer III’ (MGM, 1956): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiOKFzRHm14 #France #Hollywood #50s #Royals #Fashion Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Action Comics #1, published on April 18th, 1938, featured the first ever appearance of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s iconic superhero, Superman. The character already boasted invincibility, had a hopeless crush on Lois Lane, and an inexplicable penchant for wearing bright red underpants on the outside of his costume. But, as yet, he could not fly, did not live in Kansas, and did not work at the Daily Planet. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Siegel and Shuster came to sell the rights to their creation for a paltry $130; reveal the Jewish subtexts of Krypton and Batman; and consider whether Superman’s liberal politics prevented DC from fully embracing the character they’d unleashed… Further Reading: • ‘Action Comics #1: Superman’ (DC, 1938): https://archive.org/details/superman-1938-issue-1/mode/2up • ‘Superman at 80: The Jewish origins of the Man of Steel and the 'curse' that haunts the actors who play him’ (The Independent, 2018): https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/superman-jewish-origins-film-adaptations-curse-jerry-siegel-christopher-reeve-henry-cavill-a8344461.html • ‘Superman’ (Columbia, 1948): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7soDPQUxpOk #30s #Publishing #Jewish #Comics Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Oil tycoon Robert P. McCulloch purchased London Bridge for $2,460,000 on 17th April, 1968. The Victorian structure, which had been sinking into the River Thames at a rate of one inch every eight years, was then dismantled stone by stone and shipped to the USA, where it now bestrides Lake Havasu City, Arizona. The wheeze was the work of advertising executive-turned-London councilor Ivan Luckin, who convinced his colleagues that it might be possible to sell the bridge to pay for the costs of building a new one, and set about a marketing blitz including a press conference in New York in which he invoked the crossing’s illustrious Roman history. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly revisit the gaudy launch ceremony; debunk the myth that McCulloch thought he was buying Tower Bridge instead; and reveal that buying the bridge wasn’t even this eccentric entrepreneur’s wackiest idea… Further Reading: • ‘How London Bridge Ended Up In Arizona’ (HISTORY, 2016): https://www.history.com/news/how-london-bridge-ended-up-in-arizona • Inside Arizona's London Bridge (BBC, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnHy4_P8SCE • ‘London Bridge in America - The Tall Story of a Transatlantic Crossing, By Travis Elborough’ (Jonathan Cape, 2013): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/London_Bridge_in_America/n96uDvKN3ioC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Ivan+Luckin&pg=PA271&printsec=frontcover Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jamie Oliver blasted on to British screens when his first TV series, ‘The Naked Chef’ premiered on BBC Two on 14th April, 1999. Created by Pat Llewellyn for Optomen, the show was revolutionary for its use of jumpy, close-up camera work, and the presenter’s relaxed style and laddishness. The series and subsequent cookbook was credited with inspiring men to take to the kitchen, due to Oliver’s “blokey” approach and relatability - but also inspired a backlash against his ‘mockney’ delivery. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how fact met fiction when the TV set became Oliver’s real-life pad; reveal how the young chef was spotted in the background of another documentary entirely; and explore whether this phenomenon could have happened in any era other than Britpop Britain… Further Reading: • ‘The Oral History of Jamie Oliver's 'The Naked Chef'’ (VICE, 2019): https://www.vice.com/en/article/7xgpyb/the-oral-history-of-jamie-olivers-the-naked-chef • ‘Jamie Oliver remembers incredibly special milestone with fans’ (HELLO!, 2019): https://www.hellomagazine.com/film/2019071875453/jamie-oliver-naked-chef-throwback-20th-anniversary/ • ‘The Naked Chef - Season 1, Episode 1 - Chefs' Night Off’ (BBC/Optomen, 1999): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_gXQvmHL3I #UK #90s #TV #Food We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Joanna of Castile, was, as a young lady, remarked upon for her intellect and good companionship, and married off to prize catch Philip the Handsome - but by the time she died on 13th April, 1555 she was known colloquially by the name that’s stuck ever since: ‘Joanna The Mad’. She had, by then, spent 45 years in prison at the hands of her own family, who had a political advantage in exaggerating her moments of instability to keep control of her territories. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly ask whether Joanna’s problems can be traced back to her troubling childhood; reveal her disturbing behaviour whilst she grieved for her philandering husband; and consider her legacy as a prototype for the ‘mad woman in the attic’ seen in so much Western literature… Further Reading: ‘The Intriguing Life of Joana of Castile, Who Slept With Her Husband's Corpse’ (Esquire, 2018): https://www.esquiremag.ph/the-good-life/pursuits/joanna-of-castile-history-a00208-20180428-lfrm‘Who Was Catherine of Aragon's Sister Juana la Loca in The Spanish Princess?’ (Town and Country, 2019): https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/tradition/a27786471/catherine-of-aragon-sister-juana-la-loca-spanish-princess/‘Juana la Loca, Rap Histórico’ (Academia Play, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddlYsTO8bcM ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ronald Wayne sold his 10% stake in Apple to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak on 12th April, 1976 - having been a co-founder of the company just 11 days earlier. He received back his initial investment of $800, which would now be worth over $1 billion. However, despite this often being cited as one of the worst business decisions in history, Wayne maintains that he made the right decision - because, as the ‘adult in the room’, his personal assets had been on the line had the burgeoning computer company gone into administration. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explore Wayne’s suggestion that he would have become the ‘richest man in the cemetery’ had he stayed on-board; check out his original logo - which looks more like a woodcut than an iconic brand design; and reveal a further disastrous financial calculation he made after Apple became a household name… Further Reading: • ‘Apple at 40: The forgotten founder who gave it all away’ (BBC News, 2016): https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35940300 • ‘Apple’s lost founder: Jobs, Woz and Wayne’ (The Mercury News, 2010): https://www.mercurynews.com/2010/06/02/apples-lost-founder-jobs-woz-and-wayne/ • ‘Meet Ronald Wayne, The Forgotten Third Co-Founder Of Apple’ (Inside Tech, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWuCPsnWWig Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Stone of Scone, an oblong block of red sandstone used for centuries in the coronation of British monarchs, was recovered by Police on April 11th, 1951; three and a half months after its removal from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day. Four Scottish students from the University of Glasgow (Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart) stole the stone in the hope it could boost interest in Scottish nationalism. Instead, it seemed to provoke a national discussion about where the stone - which they’d accidentally split in two before bungling it into their Ford Anglia - should now reside. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly decode the religious myths surrounding this ‘stone of destiny’; explain why Charles III *will* want it to ‘groan’ when he sits on it; and reveal the ingenious way the authorities tracked the stone up to Arbroath… Further Reading: • ‘Theft of the Stone of Scone’ (The Guardian, 2007): https://www.theguardian.com/books/2007/dec/29/featuresreviews.guardianreview • ‘The students who stole the Stone of Destiny’ (BBC News): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-63130942 • ‘Coronation Stone of Scone discovered in Scotland’ (Gaumont, 1951): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-ni0XrAmtA Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

George Eastman filed a patent for the first ever celluloid roll film on 6th April, 1889 – an incremental development following the release of the first Kodak handheld camera, released in 1888, but a truly significant one. Eastman’s original products came preloaded with film, and were marketed as “convenient as a field-glass”. For $10, customers could take 100 shots which were then developed by Kodak at their factory in Rochester, New York. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover why Eastman’s advertising nous was years ahead of its time; explain how Kodak soon became the world’s leading supplier of film stock; and reveal that his company wasn’t as tardy about the coming digital photographic revolution as you might imagine… Content Warning: Suicide Further Reading: • ‘George Eastman and the Kodak Camera’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/george-eastman-history-of-kodak-1991619 • ‘Kodak inventor George Eastman’s perfectly planned death’ (news.com.au, 2019): https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/the-perfectly-planned-death-of-kodak-inventor-george-eastman/news-story/8af9b9f21050cc95d4a306b21d198c08 • ‘American Experience: The Wizard of Photography’ (PBS, 2000):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v0cUEBZSC4 ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Celebrity perfumes went mainstream on April 5th, 1991, when Elizabeth Taylor launched her most popular fragrance, White Diamonds, in a publicity blitz that included the Hollywood legend touring department stores across the US. The top notes are aldehydes, bergamot, neroli, orange and lily - but perhaps the fragrance most appealed because of the public perception of Taylor’s fierce endurance, overcoming setbacks in her career and dependency to drugs. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal Mae West’s buxom role in forwarding the development of Hollywood scents; recall how dubious celebrities from Peter Andre to Kermit The Frog subsequently took the path Taylor had blazed; and reveal just how much money the one-time Silver Screen legend made from her bottles of squizz… Further Reading: • ‘The 15 best (and worst) perfumes and fragrances by celebrities’ (Stuff NZ, 2021): https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/beauty/300382622/the-15-best-and-worst-perfumes-and-fragrances-by-celebrities • ‘Obsessions: Elizabeth Taylor, queen of cologne’ (CNN, 2011): http://edition.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/03/25/taylor.celebrity.scents/index.html • ‘White Diamonds Starring Elizabeth Taylor’ (Estee Lauder, 1991): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjVfu8-Wp6s #90s #Hollywood #Business Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gerald Holtom’s CND symbol, known internationally as the ‘peace’ symbol, made its debut at a protest march by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament on 4th April, 1958. The march went from London to Aldermaston, where Britain’s nuclear weapons were and still are manufactured. Five hundred cardboard ‘lollipop sticks’ displaying the logo were produced - and it’s since scarcely been out of circulation as an anti-establishment plea for peace around the world. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly question whether Goya helped influence Holton’s iconic design; reveal how author J.B. Priestley had fermented the protests on this day; and consider the International Shoe Corporation’s dubious claim to the patent … Further Reading: • ‘The Peace Symbol: Beginnings and Evolution’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/the-peace-symbol-1779351# • ‘He gave his unforgettable work for nothing. Shouldn't the designer of the peace symbol be commemorated?’ (The Guardian, 2015): https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/28/shouldnt-british-designer-gerard-holtom-of-peace-symbol-be-commemorated-paris-attacks • ‘Walter Wolfgang: 'why I marched to Aldermaston in 1958' (CND, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLqBUws7R8E #50s #UK #War #Design Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before the transcontinental telegraph, sending a message coast-to-coast in the United States could take up to a month via stagecoach. Until, that is, the opening of the Pony Express, on April 3, 1860. Its founders, William H. Russell, William Bradford Waddell and Alexander Majors, set up over 150 relay stations along a pioneer trail, recruiting wiry teenage lone riders (‘orphans preferred’) to make the precarious trek in a record-breaking ten days. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the employment clauses insisted upon by these entrepreneurs; consider how Buffalo Bill Cody enshrined the concept in the American frontier myth for generations; and explain why, if you thought a job as a mailman sounded risky, you *really* wouldn’t want to be posted at the relay stations… Further Reading: • ‘The Pony Express Was Short-Lived And Costly’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2015): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/pony-express-was-short-lived-and-costly-180954986/ • ‘Pony Express Debuts’ (HISTORY, 2009): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pony-express-debuts • ‘Trailer: The Pony Express’ (Paramount, 1953): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5va9JXedVo #1800s #US #Animals Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It became known as the ‘Skandalkonzert’: an evening of expressionist, experimental pieces at Vienna’s Great Hall of the Musikverein on March 31, 1913, which so disturbed the audience that rioting and slapping ensued, followed by a lawsuit. In time, it established the reputations of The Second Viennese School - a group of composers like Shoenberg and Weber, who sought to break away from the traditional tonal system and create a new form of classical music. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether it was simply the running order, not the artistic demands of the pieces, that truly upset the apple cart; reveal the extraordinary precautions Shoenberg put in place to prevent such an event recurring; and turn to Strauss for a zinger of a put-down… Further Reading: • ‘The Second Viennese School: Alban Berg, Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern | The British Library’ (British Library): https://www.bl.uk/20th-century-music/articles/the-second-viennese-school • ‘Skandalkonzert’ (ASAP History, 2020): https://asaphistory.com/2020/03/31/03-31-skandalkonzert/ • ‘Schoenberg explained in 10 Minutes’ (Samuel Andreyev, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjV3PBIWO2I #Music #1900s #Austria #Jewish We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pain-free surgery eluded physicians for centuries, but 26-year-old Crawford Williamson Long successfully removed a tumour from the neck of patient James Venable on 30th March, 1842 - whilst Venable was anaesthetised with ether. Dr Long had come to appreciate the ‘exhilarating effects’ of ether as a result of attending drug-fuelled parties at medical school - known in his coterie as ‘ether frolics’ - and identifying that, whilst high on ether, he had bruised his body, yet not felt the impact. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Dr Long experimented on his friends, families and unwitting local youths before applying ether surgically; reveal how Queen Victoria caused chloroform to eclipse ether as the anaesthetic of choice for childbirth; and revisit the religious controversies that arose when doctors started ‘playing God’... Further Reading: • ‘The surprising (and Long) story of the first use of ether in surgery’ (The Conversation, 2019): https://theconversation.com/the-surprising-and-long-story-of-the-first-use-of-ether-in-surgery-113340 • ‘March 30, 1842: It's Lights Out, Thanks to Ether’ (WIRED, 2007): https://www.wired.com/2007/03/march-30-1842-its-lights-out-thanks-to-ether/ • ‘Georgia Stories: What Would Surgery Be Like Without Anaesthesia?’ (GPB, 1995): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG29p8iiZiE ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A group of farmers digging a well in Xi’an, China, stumbled upon a life-sized human head made of clay on 29th March, 1974. It was the first indication that beneath the ground - close to the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor - was the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century: the Terracotta Army. The ‘army’ consists of more than 8,000 life-size soldiers, horses, and chariots, and was created to protect the emperor in the afterlife. The site has since become a popular tourist attraction and designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the farmers were initially reluctant to go public with their findings; reveal how a finger of one of the figures ended up in a desk drawer in Philadelphia; and consider what this world-famous artefact has in common with the Cabbage Patch Dolls… Further Reading: • ‘Terra Cotta Soldiers on the March’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2009): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/terra-cotta-soldiers-on-the-march-30942673/ • ’Uncovering China's Terracotta Army’ (History Extra, 2018): https://www.historyextra.com/period/uncovering-china-terracotta-army/ • ‘Terracotta Army: The greatest archaeological find of the 20th century’ (BBC News, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c_ADqshdSA #China #Discoveries #Art Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a 23 year run that included introducing American audiences to The Beatles, Elvis Presley and The Rolling Stones, the last original episode of ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ aired on CBS on March 28, 1971. The variety programme, which cost $8 million per year, fell victim to ‘the rural purge’, via which several iconic shows that appealed mainly to poorer and older demographics were axed in favour of screening old movies. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider how Sullivan was able to become a TV superstar, despite having no discernible talent for presentation; explain how the host’s advancing senility gave an early advantage to comedian Joan Rivers; and reveal whom this famously polite father figure deigned to call ‘bitch’… Further Reading: • ‘Right Here on Our Stage Tonight! - Ed Sullivan's America, By Gerald Nachman’ (University of California Press, 2009): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Right_Here_on_Our_Stage_Tonight/v7owDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=ed+sullivan+show+28th+march+1971&pg=PA384&printsec=frontcover • ‘Ed Sullivan, Variety Show Host Influenced American Culture’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/ed-sullivan-4589827 • ‘Elvis Presley performs "Hound Dog" on The Ed Sullivan Show’ (CBS, 1956): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNYWl13IWhY&list=PLQWND5qZhbj0nqnmye5U2g3Z-ai8wos4p Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Marlon Brando won Best Actor at the Academy Awards for his role in The Godfather on March 27, 1973, he sent Native American activist Sacheen Littlefeather in his place. Dressed in traditional Apache garb, she declined the award on Brando’s behalf, “And the reasons for this being are the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry." Littlefeather’s appearance was met with a mix of boos and applause from the audience. But, before her death in 2022, the Academy honoured Littlefeather for her protest, calling it "a powerful statement on behalf of human dignity and against the marginalization of Indigenous people." In this episode, Arion, Olly and Rebecca consider the lasting impact of this stark political moment; revisit Littlefeather’s earlier work for Playboy; and explain why, as a rumoured ‘Pretendian’, her ethnic identity continues to make headlines… Further Reading: • ‘A shocking moment in Oscars history, 50 years on’ (BBC Culture, 2023): https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20230302-the-most-shocking-moment-in-oscars-history-50-years-on • ‘Sacheen Littlefeather was a Native icon. Her sisters say she was an ethnic fraud’ (San Francisco Chronicle, 2022): https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/Sacheen-Littlefeather-oscar-Native-pretendian-17520648.php • ’Marlon Brando's Best Actor Oscar win for "The Godfather"’ (Academy Awards, 1973): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QUacU0I4yU #Hollywood #70s #Native #Racism Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first international women’s sports event, The Women’s Olympiad, kicked off in Monte Carlo on 24th March, 1921. A hundred athletes from five nations competed in track and field events, defying the male-dominated Olympic movement that excluded women from all sports except tennis, golf, sailing and croquet. Created by campaigner Alice Milliat, the event showcased the skills of pioneering athletes Mary Lines, Violette Morris and Lucie Bréard - but was primarily intended to put pressure on the ‘proper’ Olympics to finally admit women into all sports - something not fully achieved for another forty years. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how rumours of ‘fainting’ women put the feminists’ cause back by decades; consider whether the IOC’s concerns regarding ‘ladylike’ pursuits were straightforward sexism; and reveal how a Paris2024 tribute to Milliat’s victory was usurped by corporate sponsorship… Further Reading: ‘Throwback Thursday: How a French Feminist Staged Her Own Games and Forced the Olympics to Include Women’ (Vice, 2016): https://www.vice.com/en/article/xybw9k/throwback-thursday-how-a-french-feminist-staged-her-own-games-and-forced-the-olympics-to-include-women ‘Women and the Olympic Dream - The Continuing Struggle for Equality, 1896-2021 - By Maria Kaj’ (McFarland, 2022): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Women_and_the_Olympic_Dream/MBx9EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=alice+milliat&pg=PA39&printsec=frontcover ‘Women's Olympic Games at Monte Carlo’ (Topical Budget, 1923): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq1BV2pcXd0 #Sport #Sexism #France We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hallelujah! Handel’s ‘Messiah’ is one of the cornerstones of Western classical music. But when it had its London premiere at Covent Garden on 23rd March 1743, it was billed as “a new sacred oratorio”, lest the real title of the show seem blasphemous. To further mitigate the problem of performing religious work in a secular playhouse, librettist Charles Jennens ensured that no one singer could be said to be ‘playing’ the role of Christ, and profits from the show were donated to charity. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how fashionable Italian singers were liable to attract as much laughter as praise; reveal what Mozart and Beethoven made of Handel’s masterpiece; and explain how the production at Crystal Palace in 1850 blew the original out of the water… Further Reading: • ‘The Glorious History of Handel's Messiah’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2009): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-glorious-history-of-handels-messiah-148168540/ • ‘Charles Jennens: The unsung hero of Handel’s Messiah’ (The Globe and Mail, 2016): https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/music/charles-jennens-the-unsung-hero-of-handels-messiah/article33389290/ • ‘'Hallelujah Chorus' from Handel's Messiah’ (Royal Choral Society, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUZEtVbJT5c ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. We'll have something new for you tomorrow! podfollow.com/Retrospectors Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jumbo, one of the largest elephants ever seen, departed London Zoo for Barnum & Bailey’s Circus in New York on March 9th, 1882. Nationally beloved as the ‘pet’ to Queen Victoria’s children, for 16 years he’d given thousands of rides around Regent’s Park, but was sold off for $10,000 once he started exhibiting trauma - and getting erections. P.T. Barnum then embarked upon a promotional blitz, leveraging the controversy caused by his latest acquisition, and selling Jumbo’s image to numerous commercial partners. But tragedy struck in 1885 when Jumbo was involved in a railway accident in Canada. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how Jumbo became an alcoholic; indulge in the music hall singalong, ‘Why Part with Jumbo, Pet of the Zoo?’; and consider how Barnum’s marketing genius continued to exploit Jumbo’s legacy, despite him being responsible for the negligence that led to his untimely death… Further Reading: • ‘Tragic true story of Jumbo, the real life alcoholic circus elephant that inspired Disney's Dumbo’ (Mail Online, 2019): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6864855/Tragic-true-story-Jumbo-real-life-alcoholic-circus-elephant-inspired-Disneys-Dumbo.html • ‘My Poor Old Jumbo, Your Alice Weeps for You’ (The New York Times, 1886): https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/insider/1886-my-poor-old-jumbo-your-alice-weeps-for-you.html?searchResultPosition=6 • ‘P.T. Barnum and Jumbo: The Elephant Story’ (Barnum Museum, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eawirRHsrMU Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. podfollow.com/Retrospectors Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Medieval power couple King Louis VII of France and Eleanor of Aquitaine, seemingly unable to produce a male heir, had a messy breakup. Their annulment on 21st March 1152 was granted by the Pope on the grounds of consanguinity - meaning they were too closely related by blood. And yet both parties went on to marry people to whom they were even more closely related. Henry of Anjou was Eleanor’s next husband - a move which made her the only woman in history to have been both Queen of France AND Queen of England. Meanwhile, Louis lost half his Kingdom - and had to sit and watch as Eleanor popped out male heir after male heir with her new hubby. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Arion explain why going on a Holy War is not great marriage therapy; get between the sheets with the Royal couple; and consider how an attempted kidnapping might have made for an awkward family atmosphere at Eleanor and Henry’s wedding reception… Further Reading: • ‘Eleanor of Aquitaine - Queen of France, Queen of England, By Ralph V. Turner’ (Yale University Press, 2009): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine/dVcslrfl1V4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Eleanor+of+Aquitaine+annulment&printsec=frontcover • ‘Eleanor Of Aquitaine: The Medieval Queen Who Took On Europe's Men’ (HistoryExtra, 2020): https://www.historyextra.com/period/medieval/eleanor-of-aquitaine-the-medieval-queen-who-took-on-europes-most-powerful-men/ • ‘The Court of Love - Eleanor of Aquitaine #2’ (Extra History, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_KgUiDUPs0 Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Jules Rimet, trophy of the FIFA World Cup, was stolen from a stamp exhibition in Westminster Central Hall on March 20th, 1966 - the year England was hosting (and went on to win) the tournament. The theft sparked a massive Police investigation and multiple offers of rewards for its recovery. Astonishingly, the trophy had not been heavily guarded or alarmed, so the thieves stole it with bolt cutters. In a twist straight out of Enid Blyton, the cup was eventually discovered not by the boys in blue - but by a pet dog called Pickles, who was then lauded as a national hero. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the identities of the London gangsters who poached the Cup; explain what music hall star Tommy Trinder had to do with it; and discover how, in Brazil, the Cup was to go AWOL again… Further Reading: ‘The Theft of the Jules Rimet Trophy - The Hidden History of the 1966 World Cup, By Martin Atherton (Meyer & Meyer, 2008): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Theft_of_the_Jules_Rimet_Trophy/m7SbwNM4Y0sC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=theft+of+the+world+cup+1966&pg=PA45&printsec=frontcover ‘The World Cup is stolen’ (The Guardian, 1966): https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/mar/21/world-cup-stolen-football-archive-1966 ‘Pickles - The dog who saved the 1966 World Cup’ (The Sun, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQjZagahHKU Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first ever St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland, as many people might expect, but in Spanish Florida, on March 17, 1601. It wasn’t until about 100 years later that the world famous parades got going in Boston and New York City. Historian J. Michael Francis made the discovery of this unexpectedly early celebration of Ireland’s patron saint while investigating the Spanish imperial history of the Floridian city of St. Augustine. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why for around 50 years up until the 1970s all pubs in Ireland were closed on St. Patrick’s Day; discuss what gunpowder had to do with the first St. Patrick’s Day parade; and reveal where corned beef and cabbage really come from… Further Reading: ‘Where the first St. Patrick's Day parade REALLY took place’ (Daily Mail, 2018): https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5511205/First-St-Paddys-parade-took-place-FLORIDA-century-NYs.html ‘First St. Patrick’s Day parade’ (History.com, 2010): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-st-patricks-day-parade ‘A Brief History of St. Patrick's Day’ (ABC News, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40BlVzjxu-I #1600s #US #Strange We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gustav III was shot, in the back and at close range, at Stockholm’s Royal Opera House on 16th March, 1792. But he didn’t die for another two weeks. Which made things rather difficult for the conspirators who had assassinated him. During his two decades on the throne, Sweden’s ‘Culture King’ had increased religious freedom, widened opportunities for ordinary citizens and built the very opera house in which he was attacked. But his popularity with the people did not spare him the wrath of the nobility - quite the reverse. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how, at a masked ball, the King was still so readily identifiable; ask whether his war with Russia was a clever or foolish piece of military strategy; and reveal the ugly fate that befell his assailant… Further Reading: • ‘That Fatal Shot — by the Royal Armoury, Sweden’ (Google Arts & Culture): https://artsandculture.google.com/story/that-fatal-shot-the-royal-armoury-sweden/MQURevye_fzGJQ?hl=en • ‘Gustav III of Sweden: The Forgotten Despot of the Age of Enlightenment’ (History Today, 2003): https://www.historytoday.com/archive/gustav-iii-sweden-forgotten-despot-age-enlightenment • ‘The Ambitious Building Projects of Gustav III’ (Kings And Things, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5MbLbv2gSU #1800s #Sweden #Crime #Royals ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday', running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The world's first blood bank opened on March 15, 1937 at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, revolutionising the way blood transfusions were performed. Dr. Bernard Fantus, the man behind the blood bank, had originally wanted to call his innovation the Blood Preservation Laboratory – but then his daughter came up with a rather less ghoulish name. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the discovery of blood typing was a crucial step towards the creation of blood banks; reveal why Dr. Fantus was inspired to invent sweet medicines for children; and demystify an urban legend about a pope draining boys’ blood… Further Reading: ‘The First-Ever Blood Bank Opened 80 Years Ago Today’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2017): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-ever-blood-bank-opened-80-years-ago-today-180962486/ ‘How Science Students Helped End Segregated Blood Banks’ (National Center for Science Education, 2015): https://ncse.ngo/how-science-students-helped-end-segregated-blood-banks ‘A History of Surgery at Cook County Hospital’ (Amika Press, 2015): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/A_History_of_Surgery_at_Cook_County_Hosp/IQJbCAAAQBAJ ‘History of Blood Transfusion’ (One Blood Videos, 2012): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV68EzS0jsI #30s #Inventions #US Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow!:podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Mikado opened on March 14, 1885 to immediate acclaim, and went on to become W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan’s most famous and best-loved operetta, despite its tortured genesis. Due to growing creative tensions and their previous show flopping, Gilbert and Sullivan’s partnership was on the rocks, so The Mikado’s success took both completely by surprise. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look at why the setting of The Mikado is really Japan in name only; discuss how Gilbert found inspiration in a sword hanging on his wall; and explain why Gilbert and Sullivan almost parted ways because of a magical love lozenge… Further Reading: ‘A big day in history: Gilbert and Sullivan unveil 'The Mikado'’ (History Extra, 2012): https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/a-big-day-in-history-gilbert-and-sullivan-unveil-the-mikado/ ‘Arthur Sullivan - A Victorian Musician’ (Taylor & Francis, 2018): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Arthur_Sullivan_A_Victorian_Musician/VXt_DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0 ‘The Mikado’ (BBC, 1987): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SkOWxcbzn0&t=561s #Victorian #Theatre #Music Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, better known to the world as Mata Hari, set the Paris stage ablaze on March 13, 1905, with a scandalous dance routine that turned her into an overnight success. Sporting a gold jeweled breastplate and bracelets, Mata Hari’s performance was a striptease that left little to the imagination. But even the wildest imagination couldn’t envisage what lay ahead for the exotic dancer, courtesan, traitor and spy whose name became synonymous with the femme fatale. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca, and Olly discuss how she played both sides of the First World War for fools; uncover how she met her husband through a newspaper ad; and explain why she always wore a breastplate during sex… Further Reading: ‘Mata Hari: exotic dancer, femme fatale, traitor and spy’ (History Extra, 2019): https://www.historyextra.com/period/first-world-war/mata-hari-exotic-dancer-femme-fatale-traitor-wwi-spy/ ‘“I am ready”: Mata Hari faced a firing squad for spying — and refused a blindfold.’ (The Washington Post, 2017): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/10/15/i-am-ready-mata-hari-faced-a-firing-squad-for-spying-and-refused-a-blindfold/ ‘Buckwild Facts About Mata Hari, The Exotic Dancer Who Became A WWI Spy’ (Weird History, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sh-fB_qMUg Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. We'll be back tomorrow!: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The infamous French Foreign Legion was formed by King Louis Philippe on March 10, 1831, to help the French control Algeria using mercenaries who were more expendable than native young Frenchmen. To this day a magnet for men who want a clean break from their past, the Legion famously did not ask many questions about where their recruits came from - or if they had a criminal record. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover if they could meet the tests to join this notorious fighting force; expose the bloody history of the legion’s ill-fated battles in Mexico; and reveal the deadly games Russian Legionnaires played in their downtime… Further Reading: ‘Why young men queue up to die in the French Foreign Legion’ (Aeon): https://aeon.co/essays/why-young-men-queue-up-to-die-in-the-french-foreign-legion ‘The Expendables’ (Vanity Fair, 2012): https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/12/french-foreign-legion-expendables ‘French Foreign Legion: A Soldier’s Story’ (POVCAST, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC2EYK2qbnk We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

India’s Hijra community – who for centuries held a significant cultural, political and spiritual role in Indian society – were officially recognised on 9th March, 2005, when a new option appeared on passport forms, allowing applicants to select M for Male, F for Female, or ‘write E for Eunuch’. Although being labelled as a ‘third sex’ was considered by some to be stigmatising, it also reflected an understanding of the Hijra (a group including trans women, intersex people and castrates) as ‘eunuchs’, a depiction with its roots in both Hindu mythology and British colonialism. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the Hijra are believed to bring blessings to ceremonial occasions; dig into the polarised attitude that defines how Indians still see this marginalised community; and explain how a combination of transphobia, desperation and entrepreneurship has lead to many of them finding employment as ‘human Howlers’… Further Reading: • ‘Third sex in passports’ (Telegraph India, 2005): https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/third-sex-in-passports/cid/670187 • ‘India’s third gender – in pictures’ (The Guardian, 2014): https://www.theguardian.com/society/gallery/2014/apr/16/india-third-gender-in-pictures • ‘India’s Transgender Community: The Hijra’ (Refinery29, 2014): https://youtu.be/mgw7M-JABMg ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Copycat murderer Heriberto Seda began his spree of violence in New York City on March 8, 1990, when he attempted to kill a middle-aged man with a homemade gun. He claimed he was the famous ‘Zodiac’ killer, who had terrorized the West Coast in the 1960s. The NYPD began to take his crimes seriously when he shot two more people, killing one - and leaving behind a note marked with a circle with a cross through it, and the Zodiac signs of each of his previous victims. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly expose how a deadly shootout lead to Seda’s capture; compare the copycat’s cyphers to that of the Zodiac’s original missives; and reveal how the killer slipped through the police’s fingers for so long… Further Reading: ‘Brooklyn Man is Guilty in Three Zodiac Killings’ (New York Times, 1998): https://www.nytimes.com/1998/06/25/nyregion/brooklyn-man-is-guilty-in-three-zodiac-killings.html ‘The Zodiac Killer: A Timeline’ (History, 2017): https://www.history.com/news/the-zodiac-killer-a-timeline ‘The Copycat Zodiac Killer in New York City Part 2’ (Buzzfeed Unsolved Network, 2021): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Urgf4RA0ZQo The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kidnapped from her prestigious Liverpool boarding school on March 7, 1827, 15-year-old Ellen Turner was led to believe her family would be financially ruined if she didn’t marry her 30 year-old abductor, Edward Gibbon Wakefield. Before she was able to deduce that his story was a sham, Turner was whisked off to Gretna Green and inadvertently passed over the keys to her father’s estate, Shrigley, to her assailant - until an intervention from the House of Lords, and a trial that captured Britain’s imagination. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly divulge the loopholes to England’s marital age limits; explain how ‘impure’ marriages were a get-rich-quick habit for Wakefield; and reveal the extraordinary next chapter for this conniving scamster … Further Reading: ‘10 of History’s Worst Marriages’ (History Collection, 2018): https://historycollection.com/10-of-historys-worst-marriages/5/ ‘Gretna Green: The bit of Scotland where English people go to get married’ (BBC, 2014): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-28679430 ‘Wakefield & the NZ Company’ (CBHS History, 2020): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We-VfjxHbRA Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. We'll be back tomorrow! podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Birdseye Frosted Foods launched its first range of flash-frozen foods at a ‘test kitchen’ in Springfield, Massachusetts on 6th March, 1930 - and at the helm was Clarence ‘Bob’ Birdseye, an American entrepreneur of great ambition and insight. Like Captain Birdseye, the bearded, fictional mascot of the brand dreamt up for the British market, Bob had scoured the seven seas looking for innovative approaches to food preservation - a search that led him to the Inuit people of Labrador, Canada and their methods of fast-freezing fresh fish. This discovery led to a patent which eventually netted Birdseye a cool $22million. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly trace Birdseye’s entrepreneurial endeavours back through his childhood; discover the extraordinary list of animal species he attempted to eat; and consider the surprising role of the humble spinach in the incredible success of frozen processed food… Further Reading: • ‘Meet Clarence Birdseye: American who cooked up frozen foods’ (New York Post, 2022): https://nypost.com/2022/09/30/meet-clarence-birdseye-american-who-cooked-up-frozen-foods/ • ‘Clarence Birdseye, The Man Behind Modern Frozen Food’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2012): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/clarence-birdseye-the-man-behind-modern-frozen-food-95808503/ • ‘Birds Eye Fish Fingers - Fresh From The Captains Table’ (Birds Eye, 1980s): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haCuu1AhZYQ Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon We'll be back tomorrow! podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sending rude mail was dealt a devastating blow on 3rd March, 1873, when the campaign against pornography, reproductive health, birth control, and abortion led by self-appointed ‘Special Agent’ of the US Postal Service Anthony Comstock went all the way to Washington. After the ‘Comstock Act’ became law, books were banned, ‘obscene’ pamphlets were destroyed, and, in Comstock’s home state of Connecticut, birth control was banned - even within a marriage. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover what Comstock thought of the women he met at the White House; reveal his earliest crackdowns on licentiousness; and uncover George Bernard Shaw’s trolling of ‘Comstockery’ in the New York press… #1800s #Politics #Publishing Further Reading: • ‘How an Anti-Obscenity Crusader Policed America's Mail for Decades’ (HISTORY, 2022): https://www.history.com/news/comstock-act-1873-obscenity-contraception-mail • ‘Anthony Comstock's "Chastity" Laws’ (PBS American Experience): https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-anthony-comstocks-chastity-laws/#:~:text=In%20the%20late%201860s%2C%20Comstock%20began%20supplying%20the,the%20contraceptive%20industry%20as%20one%20of%20his%20targets. • ‘The Man Who Hated Women: Sex, Censorship, and Civil Liberties in the Gilded Age’ (National Archives, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9IS0S-B5HU We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Victory of Adwa on 2nd March, 1896 marked a milestone in the so-called ‘Scramble for Africa’ - because, whilst so much of the continent had been colonised by European nations, Abysinnia successfully defended their country from the invading Italians. Rome had underestimated the Ethiopians’ weaponry, motivation and strategy, and turned up with bad maps, demoralized troops - and orders to march on. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how a tricksy treaty was used to justify the incursion; consider the fates of the Eritreans who fought alongside the Europeans; and question the wisdom of getting your troops to march for nine hours straight before engaging in combat… Further Reading: ‘First Italo-Ethiopian War: Battle of Adwa’ (ThoughtCo, 2018): https://www.thoughtco.com/italo-ethiopian-war-battle-of-adwa-2360814 ‘The History of The Battle and Victory of Adwa (African History month): https://ahm.africa/the-history-of-the-battle-and-victory-of-adwa-125th/ ‘How did Italy Lose to Ethiopia?’ (Animated History, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Hln0GjuUQk&t=4s ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Aviator Charles Lindbergh (‘The Lone Eagle’) was a household name when his 20 month-old son, Charlie Jr (dubbed ‘The Eaglet’) vanished from his nursery on 1st March, 1932, sparking a nationwide media frenzy. The kidnappers left a ransom note demanding $50,000. After a further 12 exchanges of correspondence, the Lindberghs were told their son was onboard a boat called Nellie: a boat which was never found. At his sensational trial, immigrant Bruno Richard Hauptmann pleaded not guilty, but was convicted of murder in the first degree and sentenced to the electric chair. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how the Police matched Hauptmann to the abduction; reveal how Al Capone got caught up in the crisis; and ask where all the forensic botanists have gone… Further Reading: • ‘The Tragic Story Of The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping’ (All Thats Interesting, 2021): https://allthatsinteresting.com/lindbergh-baby-kidnapping • ‘60 Years Later, Doubt Clings to Lindbergh Baby Kidnaping Case’ (Los Angeles Times, 1992): https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-02-09-mn-3355-story.html • ‘How They Caught the Lindbergh Baby's Kidnapper’ (Smithsonian Channel, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpwduHFPqHk #30s #Crime #Mystery Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Deciphering the structure of DNA was as complex as the double helix itself. On 28th February, 1953, Dr. James Watson and Dr. Francis Crick rushed to the pub and announced to their fellow drinkers in The Eagle, Cambridge that they had just found “the secret of life”. But their work would not have been possible without the uncredited contribution of Dr. Rosalind Franklin - whose photographs of the X-ray diffraction pattern of DNA were the first to reveal its three-dimensional structure. And it was her colleague, Dr Maurice Wilkins, who first brought Franklin’s work to the attention of Watson and Crick. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider how it came to be that Crick’s wife, Odile; drew the iconic depiction of the structure published in Nature; explain why *technically* Dr Franklin didn’t even have a degree; and recall how James Watson’s legacy was tainted by his bitter and snide memoir, ‘The Double Helix’... Further Reading: • ‘Double-Helix Structure of DNA’ (ThoughtCo, 2020): https://www.thoughtco.com/double-helix-373302 • ‘The Geek Atlas - 128 Places Where Science and Technology Come Alive, By John Graham-Cumming’ (O'Reilly Media, 2009): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Geek_Atlas/rXH0AQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=crick+watson+eagle+1953&pg=PA267&printsec=frontcover • ‘Rosalind Franklin: DNA's unsung hero - Cláudio L. Guerra’ (Ted-Ed, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIP0lYrdirI Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! At Apple Podcasts or Patreon. podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The first Pokémon videogames, ‘Red’ and ‘Green’ were launched in Japan on 27th February, 1996. The franchise went on to be the most successful ever video game to TV adaptation, and the highest selling trading card game in history of cards. Created by Satoshi Tajiri, the gameplay recalled his childhood obsession for bug-hunting, and made use of Nintendo’s new GameBoy connection cable to enable players to swap and collect monsters. But it wasn’t until the card-trading game went viral in playgrounds that his company, Game Freak, was accused of encouraging gambling. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain why the series was re-named for the American market; reveal just how many epileptic seizures were caused by the anime adaptation in one ill-fated broadcast; and explain what the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia had in common with a group of Long Island moms… Further Reading: • ‘The Year in Ideas; Pokémon Hegemon’ (The New York Times, 2002): https://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/15/magazine/the-year-in-ideas-pokemon-hegemon.html?searchResultPosition=21 • ‘Pokémon: The Japanese game that went viral’ (BBC Culture, 2020): https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20200811-pokemon-the-japanese-game-that-went-viral • ‘Gameplay: Pokemon Red’ (GameFreak, 1996): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C034iux-EJ8 Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone - now better known as St Francis of Assisi - attended Mass on 24th February, 1208, and heard the Gospel According to Matthew. From that day on, the former soldier and playboy removed his shoes, put on a rough tunic, and embarked fully into a monastic lifestyle. The process would lead him to meet the Pope and become officially recognised by the Church - but alienate him from his wealthy father, who had shelled out ransom money to return him from a battlefield prison. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly recall how Francis’s father attempted to wangle him out of his inheritance; explore the really rather literal fashion in which Francesco interpreted his various visions; and explain why, at one point, Francis prayed for his miracles to STOP… Further Reading: • ‘Reluctant Saint: The Life of Francis of Assisi - By Donald Spoto’ (Penguin, 2003): https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Reluctant_Saint/K6qy9JMXuGUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=assisi&printsec=frontcover • ‘Francis of Assisi, nature’s mystic’ (The Washington Post, 2013): https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/francis-of-assisi-natures-mystic/2013/03/20/82619910-9166-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239_story.html • ‘Francis: The Saint and the Pope’ (Catholic News Service, 2013): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcOU3bYmMOA #Medieval #Catholic #Italy We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Jennifer Lopez turned up on the Grammys’ red carpet wearing a green Versace dress on February 23rd, 2000, there was such a rush from the public to see the image that it became the most searched-for term in Google’s history. As a result - Eric Schmidt later confessed - Google Images was developed and launched, and a whole new way of searching the web was created. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover where the iconic dress is now; explain how Geri Halliwell missed out on the chance of (increased) internet infamy; and reveal just how many dresses J-Lo tried on before settling on ‘the one’... Further Reading: ‘How Jennifer Lopez’s Versace Dress Created Google Images’ (GQ, 2019): https://www.gq.com/story/jennifer-lopez-versace-google-images Geri Halliwell actually wore Jennifer Lopez's iconic Grammy dress first (yahoo.com): https://uk.style.yahoo.com/blogs/shine-on/geri-halliwell-actually-wore-jennifer-lopezs-175622959.html ‘Jennifer Lopez Tells the Story of the Green Versace Dress’ (Vogue, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTyBFcEgc-A ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. We'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sorcerer and fortune-teller Catherine "La Voisin" Monvoisin was sentenced to death on 22nd February, 1680. She had supplied poisons and potions to clients including Madame de Montespan, official mistress to King Louis XIV. Monvoisin’s punishment was the climax of the witchcraft hysteria that rocked the Parisian court, triggered by the confessions of Madame de Brinvilliers, who’d been executed for conspiring to poison her father. The scandal became known as ‘The Affair of the Poisons’. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how a ‘black mass’ actually worked; ponder how it was such a seemingly small jump from chiromancy to murder in Voisin’s backstreet clinics; and consider what La Voisin’s career would look like if she was around these days… Further Reading: • ‘La Voisin and the Scandalous Affair of the Poisons’ (SciHi, 2019): http://scihi.org/affair-poisons-voisin/ • ‘The Bizarre Life Of The Murderous French Fortuneteller La Voisin’ (Grunge, 2020): https://www.grunge.com/246131/the-bizarre-life-of-the-murderous-french-fortuneteller-la-voisin/ • ‘The Terror of History: The Witch Hunt in Early Modern Europe’ (UCLA, 2007): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOQND4fVF_w #1600s #Witchcraft #France #Macabre Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Entrepreneur Edwin Holmes installed the very first electric burglar alarm in Boston on 21 February, 1858, which deployed an electrical circuit that would trip when the connection was broken by opening a door or window, which would sound a bell. Unfortunately for Holmes, there wasn’t much burglary going on in Boston at the time, so to get his fledgling business off the ground, he packed his bags and brought his family to New York, where he believed “all the country’s burglars” made their home. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look at how Holmes got around people’s early fears about the dangers of electricity; reveal how he deployed the celebrities and influencers of his day to sell his product; and explain why bear traps were the burglar-deterrent of choice for many people in the pre-industrial era. Further Reading: • ‘A Brief History of the Invention of the Home Security Alarm’ (Smithsonian Magazine, 2021): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/history-home-security-alarm-180977002/ • ‘Our Father’s Beginning’ (John Fischer, DGA Security Systems, 2008): https://web.archive.org/web/20120331144457/http://www.csaaul.org/EdwinHolmes1.html • ‘The Invention That Changed New York Safety Forever’ (Smothsonian channel, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eqf8YmwqqHA #1800s #Inventions #Crime #US Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On 20 February, 1472, Orkney and Shetland officially became part of Scotland having been offered up as security for the dowry of the daughter of King Christian of Norway and Denmark. The marriage was aimed at quelling a long-standing tax-related feud between the two powers. But as time wore on, it began to feel as though the Scandinavians just didn’t really want Orkney and Shetland all that much. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly look at how Vikings had come to control the islands in the first place; reveal why the citizens of Shetland have never stopped loving their Scandi past; and explain why if you want to properly describe the pattern variations of certain breeds of sheep you might need to learn a dead language… Further Reading: • ‘On this day 1472: Orkney and Shetland join Scotland’ (The Scotsman, 2015): https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/day-1472-orkney-and-shetland-join-scotland-1512113 • ‘The islands of Orkney and Shetland passed into Scottish ownership’ (History Scotland, 2022): https://www.historyscotland.com/history/the-islands-of-orkney-and-shetland-passed-into-scottish-ownership-on/ • ‘20th February 1472: Orkney and Shetland Isles given to Scotland by Norway as a wedding dowry’ (HistoryPod, 2019): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COI05mwNda4 #1400s #Royals #Scotland #Scandinavia Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS 🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Between 1908 and 1927, the Ford Motor Company sold 15,007,033 Model Ts, making the car the best-selling automobile the world had ever seen. That record came to an end on the 17th February, 1972 when the 15,007,034th Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the production line. The car was the brainchild of Adolf Hitler who commissioned it almost immediately after her became chancellor of Germany in 1933. His plan was that the German public, irrespective of whether they were a doctor or a factory worker could buy a car for just 1,000 Reichsmarks which would have been around 31 weeks’ pay for the average worker. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider whether the Beetle is more a triumph of engineering or advertising; discuss why Ford turned down the Volkswagen factory at Wolfsburg, which they could have had for free; and look at how the Führer’s car came to be loved by 1960s American hippies and flower children… Further Reading: • ‘The VW Beetle: How Hitler’s idea became a design icon’ (BBC, 2014): https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20130830-the-nazi-car-we-came-to-love • ‘The world’s best-selling cars’ (Auto Express, 2022): https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/best-cars-vans/33872/worlds-best-selling-cars • ‘The History of Volkswagen, 'The People's Car’ (Wall Street Journal, 2016): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhH-oWHzzvQ #70s #Inventions #US We'll be back on Monday - unless you join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week! Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Sophie King. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why do we say ‘God Bless You’ when we sneeze? Some historians trace it back to 16th February, 600 - and a decree supposedly issued by the pun-loving, God-fearing Pope Gregory to ward off the effects of the plague that had killed his predecessor. (Sadly, Gregory’s other idea to fight off the disease wasn’t quite so successful - he organized a parade through Rome, and 80 people in the crowd spread the symptoms to each other, subsequently dying.) In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover how locals respond to sneezes in Serbia, China, Russia and Tanzania; consider whether commenting on someone else’s bodily functions is unwelcome, or a ‘micro-affection’; and imagine a world with a more upbeat style of Gregorian chanting… Further Reading: • ‘This is the REAL reason we say ‘bless you’ when someone sneezes… and it’s not because of the Plague’ – (The Sun, 2016): https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1158748/this-is-the-real-reason-we-say-bless-you-when-someone-sneezes-and-its-not-because-of-the-plague-2/ • ‘Why do we say 'bless you' or 'gesundheit' when people sneeze?’ (HowStuffWorks, 2021): https://people.howstuffworks.com/sneezing.htm • ‘Should People Say 'Bless You'?’ (The Real Daytime, 2018): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP6BzhCDccU ‘Why am I hearing a rerun?’ Every Thursday is 'Throwback Thursday' on Today in History with the Retrospectors: running one repeat per week means we can keep up the quality of our independent podcast. Daily shows like this require a lot of work! But as ever we'll have something new for you tomorrow, so follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors Love the show? Join 🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴 to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode every SUNDAY! Plus, get weekly bonus bits, unlock over 70 bits of extra content and support our independent podcast. Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks! The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2023. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices